Area teams advance in WPIAL soccer playoffs
Seton-La Salle’s Kellen Krebs (No. 22) heads the ball during a set play against OLSH.
Canon-McMillan’s Brandon Byer (No. 7) goes toe-to-toe with Plum’s Cooper Myers during WPIAL Class AAA boys’ soccer playoff action.
When Larry Fingers took over the soccer program at Canon-McMillan six years ago, the Big Macs hadn’t won a section title or a district championship. They certainly did not have the history of success some other programs enjoyed. Then the Big Macs started winning. In fact, they captured a WPIAL crown last season.
“We kind of shook up the geography a bit of high school soccer,” he said.
Fingers hopes the trend continues when the Big Macs challenge top-seeded Seneca Valley in a quarterfinal playoff game at 6 p.m. Oct. 26 at Moon. The Raiders, who snuck past Kiski, 1-0, in their post-season opener, upended Canon-Mac in last year’s PIAA tournament. The Big Macs upended Seneca Valley in 2015 WPIAL semifinals.
“Last year, with Seneca and how strong they were, us beating them, definitely shook some things,” Fingers said. “They’ll definitely want to come back and beat us as they did in states last year.”
As defending champion, Canon-Mac entered the tournament with a target on its back even though the Big Macs finished third behind Peters Township and Upper St. Clair in the section standings.
“St. Clair and Peters have had a stranglehold on the South Hills for a decade, several decades, and we came in and shook things up,” Fingers said of the Big Macs’ run last season. “That goes in the playoffs with the Fox Chapels, Seneca Valleys and some programs that have serious history. We are hoping to continue doing that and have that history ourselves when we look back on it a few years from now.”
The Big Macs will look back, first, on their opening round triumph against Plum, 1-0. With 9:40 to play, Nathan Cathell scored the decisive goal. Brandon Beyer earned the assist.
“He was in the right place at the right time and he had the composure to finish it,” Fingers said. “In the playoffs that is all that counts.”
Goalkeeping also counts in the playoffs and Nick Frediani provided a strong showing between the pipes and gained the shutout. The versatile Frediani-he can play in the field as well-made five spectacular saves.
“He managed the back four really well,” Fingers said. “Obviously, he kept all the balls out of the net and kept the shutout in tack. He did well from a goalkeeping perspective and also from a leadership perspective.”
Stack leads way
In other first-round playoff action, Seton-La Salle relied on the experience of Chris Stack to help propel the Rebels to victory against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 2-0. After a scoreless first half, Stack put the Rebels on the board with his tally at 35:24. Michael Allen made it 2-0 almost five minutes later.
“We live and die by our better players and (Chris) is one of them,” SLS coach Mike Kelly said. “He changes his game a little bit. Leads and scores the first goal and helps to get the second one. He’s been like that all year. So it’s been great.”
SLS’s start in defending its championship wasn’t great. The Rebels are seeded No. 1 in the tournament and are 18-1 overall with the lone loss being one the last day of the regular season to Chartiers Valley, 4-1.
“We had some trouble focusing. It was a bigger field. An afternoon game,” Kelly said.
“The first game is historically the hardest. You don’t know how to gauge a team and where you stand. Plus, we were coming off a little bit of a break and a loss so I don’t know if our guys were as confident as they were earlier this year.”
The Rebels face another familiar foe in the quarterfinals. SLS is scheduled to battle Aquinas Academy at 6 p.m. Oct. 26 at Hopewell.
“They are another team that we have seen in the past and they are supposed to be pretty good,” Kelly said.
Other winners
Several other local clubs were good enough to advance to the quarterfinals of the soccer playoffs.
Upper St. Clair blanked Franklin Regional, 1-0, in boys’ class AAA action. Tommy Davidson scored the goal 15 minutes into the game and Mac Dominick posted the shutout in the nets. USC battles Allderdice at 8 p.m. Oct. 26 at Peters Township.
Peters Township edged Central Catholic, 1-0, in overtime. With 6:21 left in the second overtime, Rex Heuler fired in the decisive tally. The Indians now play North Allegheny at 8 p.m. Oct. 26 at Moon.
In Class AAA, Chartiers Valley blanked Knoch, 3-0, while South Fayette fell to Moon, 2-1. The Colts face West Allegheny at 8 p.m. Oct. 26 at Canon-McMillan in the quarterfinals.
Bethel Park and Bishop Canevin were eliminated in the first round of playoff action. The Hawks dropped a 5-0 decision to Penn-Trafford while the Crusaders succumbed to Greensburg Central Catholic, 5-1.
Girls’ results
In WPIAL girls’ first-round playoff action on Monday, Oct. 24:
• South Fayette upset Oakland Catholic, 2-0. After a scoreless first half, the Lions took the lead on a goal from Brenna McGuire at the 23:55 mark. With 13 minutes to play, Lexi Keeling tacked on an insurance tally. The Lions entered the Class AAA playoffs as the No. 14 seed. With the win, they improved to 10-7-2 overall and advanced to play Montour in the quarterfinals set for Oct. 27. The Spartans shut out Chartiers Valley, 2-0, in their playoff opener. The Lady Colts finished the season at 11-8 overall.
• Defending PIAA champion Upper St. Clair dispatched Butler, 6-1. Landy Mertz registered the hat trick. She combined with Nikki Gibbons for the Panthers’ first two tallies. Marissa Krenn and Gibbons tacked on second-half goals. Abby Perri, who was assisted by Mertz, completed the scoring.
With the win, USC improved to 11-6 and advanced to the quarterfinals to face Norwin on Oct. 27. The Knights (17-0-1) are the defending WPIAL champions. They beat USC in last year’s district final but lost to the Panthers in the PIAA semifinals. The Knights blanked Penn Hills, 9-0, in their playoff opener.
• Emma Cusick scored twice and Jess Whilhelm added a tally as Mt. Lebanon upended Plum, 3-2. Whilhelm and Cusick staked the Blue Devils to a 2-0 lead by halftime and expanded the margin to three tallies before the Mustangs got on the scoreboard.
With the win, Lebo improved to 9-7-2 overall. The Devils will play Allderdice in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 at Elizabeth Forward.
• No. 2-seeded Canon-McMillan eliminated Hempfield, 5-0, and now will play Seneca Valley in the quarterfinals set for Oct. 27.
Sabrina Bryan led the Lady Macs, who improved to 16-0-1 overall, with two goals and two assists. Aideen O’Donahue, Addie Roman and Cheyenne Trest accounted for the other tallies. After a scoreless first half, O’Donahue and Roman, off assists from Bryan, lifted the Lady Macs into a lead they never relinquished. Jaden Williams assisted on Trest’s goal, which came off a corner kick.
• Peters Township dropped a 3-2 decision to Seneca Valley and finished the season at 10-6-3 overall.
• Seton-La Salle succumbed to Riverside, 2-0, and finished the year at 11-5 overall.
• Bishop Canevin dropped an 8-0 decision to Shady Side Academy and ended the year at 5-14 overall.